Psalm 72 (KJV):16-20: Let the whole earth be filled with His glory

From Psalms

Psalm 72:16-20

¹⁶There shall be an handful of corn in the earth
      upon the top of the mountains;
the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon:
      and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth.
¹⁷His name shall endure for ever:
      his name shall be continued as long as the sun:
and men shall be blessed in him:
      all nations shall call him blessed.

¹⁸Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel,
      who only doeth wondrous things.
¹⁹And blessed be his glorious name for ever:
      and let the whole earth be filled with his glory;
            Amen, and Amen.

²⁰The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

There was point in December when I thought I may never be able to complete another book of Psalms.  Nevertheless, here I am at the end of book II - not really close to halfway except in the number of Psalms left.

But I digress...Psalm 72 is not about me, it's about God...and as I talked about yesterday, Jesus.  I especially like verse 19, "Let the whole earth be filled with his glory."  Truly the whole earth is filled with his glory already.  Sometimes we just need to look around to see it.  The giggle of a young child.  The beauty of a sun rise on a chilly morning.  The full moon on a clear winter's night.   The waves curling over as they crash along a beach.  The hug of a loved one when we need it most...and for that matter during a time of celebration.  These things are all the glory of God.

Sometimes, sadly, we miss these moments because we're paying attention to other distractions.  Or maybe we just take these glorious things for granted.  So today as we go through our day we will watch for his glory in our lives.  Today, we will know there are no coincidences - just glory in God's plan.  Then when we become witness to his Glory we will thank Him for all of His gifts and all of His glory.  And as the psalmist wrote in verse 19, "Amen and Amen."

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 72 (KJV)1-15: He shall deliver the needy when he crieth

From Psalms

Psalm 72
(Of Solomon.)

¹Give the king thy judgments, O God,
      and thy righteousness unto the king's son.
²He shall judge thy people with righteousness,
      and thy poor with judgment.
³The mountains shall bring peace to the people,
      and the little hills, by righteousness.
⁴He shall judge the poor of the people,
      he shall save the children of the needy,
      and shall break in pieces the oppressor.
⁵They shall fear thee as long as the sun
      and moon endure, throughout all generations.
⁶He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass:
      as showers that water the earth.
⁷In his days shall the righteous flourish;
      and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.

⁸He shall have dominion also from sea to sea,
      and from the river unto the ends of the earth.
⁹They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him;
      and his enemies shall lick the dust.
¹⁰The kings of Tarshish and of the isles
      shall bring presents:
the kings of Sheba and Seba
      shall offer gifts.
¹¹Yea, all kings shall fall down before him:
      all nations shall serve him.

¹²For he shall deliver the needy when he crieth;
      the poor also, and him that hath no helper.
¹³He shall spare the poor and needy,
      and shall save the souls of the needy.
¹⁴He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence:
      and precious shall their blood be in his sight.
¹⁵And he shall live,
      and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba:
prayer also shall be made for him continually;
      and daily shall he be praised.

Psalm 72 holds a special place for me because verse 3 was posted on a sign entering a small mountain town in the Rocky Mountains that I would vacation at with my family growing up.  Understanding the peace and beauty of such a place in the mountains is to understand God's creation...to understand what is meant by God's Country.  That is, country as land or rural setting, not as in the lines drawn up by people.  And in understanding we can see the truth in verse 3, "Mountains shall bring peace to the people."

But verse 3 is just a small part of psalm 72 and almost doesn't fit with the rest of the first 15 verses, which highlights God as the one that lifts up the needy, poor and afflicted in their time of need.  Indeed, he saves our souls, delivers us when we cry out, and redeem us from deceit and violence.  Precious are we too him, and is our blood in his sight.

Psalm 72 is about the hope and the promise that Jesus brought with him.  Peace, love, and holiness will rule the day in God's country...peace on earth, good will to men.  God works through people and so we need to reflect this hope and promise to the people we know and meet.  Often we need to pray to have this kind of hope and promise fill our hearts - but if we can pray God will help us find it.  He will help us heal and recover from past pains and mistakes.  Then we can move forward to allow us to serve him by serving others...and to reflect the love, hope and promise that Jesus brought to this world.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 71 (KJV): 16-24: I will go in the strength of the Lord

From Psalms

Psalm 71:16-24

¹⁶I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD:
      I will make mention of thy righteousness, even of thine only.
¹⁷O God, thou hast taught me from my youth:
      and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works.
¹⁸Now also when I am old and greyheaded,
      O God, forsake me not;
until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation,
      and thy power to every one that is to come.

¹⁹Thy righteousness also, O God, is very high,
      who hast done great things:
      O God, who is like unto thee!
²⁰Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles,
      shalt quicken me again,
and shalt bring me up again
      from the depths of the earth.
²¹Thou shalt increase my greatness,
      and comfort me on every side.

²²I will also praise thee with the psaltery,
      even thy truth, O my God:
unto thee will I sing with the harp,
      O thou Holy One of Israel.
²³My lips shall greatly rejoice
      when I sing unto thee;
      and my soul, which thou hast redeemed.
²⁴My tongue also shall talk of thy righteousness
      all the day long:
for they are confounded,
      for they are brought unto shame,
      that seek my hurt.

Yesterday, was the second day I missed blogging about psalms this year.  This may not seem like a big deal, however, I'm a little disappointed in myself.  You see, I am trying to recreate a habit of studying the bible (and for the next few months, psalms) and/or praying everyday for 27 days.  I'm doing this because I know when I'm able to study the bible or meditate in prayer in a day, for that day I do not feel the urges or cravings of my addiction.  Generally, when I go several days without prayer or studying the bible is when the temptation of my addiction start to creep into my life.  As I started to see in December, with a whopping two psalm blog entries for the entire month.

I'm not sure I can explain this or even understand this.  Maybe it's a daily reminder that God is with me and I understand right from wrong.  Or maybe reading the bible gives your mind a workout, and therefore strength.  Or maybe I am closer to God and he is giving me more strength to manage distracting situations that would take me down those paths to my addictions.  Whatever the case, reading the bible and praying daily, works and as psalm 71 verse 16 starts today, I will go in the strength of the Lord.

On that note, I would like to share a phrase I heard yesterday, "When I see a bible that's broken and worn down, I know the life of the owner of that bible is all held together."  I just heard while flipping channels on the radio yesterday and I thought it reflected nicely with my theme today.

May you also be in the Strength of the Lord.  As they say in Spanish, via con Dios.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 71 (KJV): 1-15: You are my rock and my fortress

From Psalms

Psalm 71

¹In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust:
      let me never be put to confusion.
²Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape:
      incline thine ear unto me, and save me.
³Be thou my strong habitation,
      whereunto I may continually resort:
thou hast given commandment to save me;
      for thou art my rock and my fortress.
⁴Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
      out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

⁵For thou art my hope, O Lord GOD:
      thou art my trust from my youth.
⁶By thee have I been holden up from the womb:
      thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels:
      my praise shall be continually of thee.
⁷I am as a wonder unto many;
      but thou art my strong refuge.
⁸Let my mouth be filled with thy praise
      and with thy honour all the day.

⁹Cast me not off in the time of old age;
      forsake me not when my strength faileth.
¹⁰For mine enemies speak against me;
      and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,
¹¹Saying, God hath forsaken him:
      persecute and take him;
      for there is none to deliver him.
¹²O God, be not far from me: O my God,
      make haste for my help.
¹³Let them be confounded and consumed that are adversaries to my soul;
      let them be covered with reproach and dishonour that seek my hurt.

¹⁴But I will hope continually,
      and will yet praise thee more and more.
¹⁵My mouth shall shew forth thy righteousness
      and thy salvation all the day;
      for I know not the numbers thereof.

God is my rock and my fortress - and I love to speak of his righteousness.  I was in a situation today, which in the past, usually would have led to me acting out in my addiction, and doing things that I would later regret.  However, today it was just a passing thought and I moved on and maintained a reasonable amount of focus on the task at hand.  I even thought for a second, "Why would have ever thought that was an appropriate thing to do in this situation?"  Which to me, demonstrates how much change God has brought into my life...awesome.  Truly, awesome.  It reminds me that I have so much to be thankful for today.

Thanks for letting me share.

Psalm 70 (KJV): Let those that seek you rejoice

From Psalms

Psalm 70 (KJV)
(For the director of music.  Of David.  A petition.)


¹MAKE HASTE, O GOD, TO DELIVER ME;
      MAKE HASTE TO HELP ME, O LORD.
²Let them be ashamed and confounded
      that seek after my soul:
let them be turned backward,
      and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
³Let them be turned back for a reward
      of their shame that say, Aha, aha.
⁴Let all those that seek thee
      rejoice and be glad in thee:
and let such as love thy salvation say continually,
      Let God be magnified.

⁵But I am poor and needy:
      make haste unto me, O God:
thou art my help and my deliverer;
      O LORD, make no tarrying.

Save me, O God.  I must cry out this prayer everyday.  At least that's what it feels like.  And for the past (nearly) 15 months I've seen the Lord answer those prayers.  He doesn't always answer them right away - no we need to show patience and faith.  He doesn't always answer them with what we would expect - but he does answer with what he knows we need.  And so, for those of us that seek the Lord, let us rejoice in his grace and his salvation.

As well, today I would like to pray for the addicts that don't yet know how to find recovery.  Those that haven't found salvation in God - and don't yet know how to seek Him.

Lord, please also help those who those who still suffer from alcoholism and addiction.  Those that need to be saved by you but don't yet seek you - or know where or how to seek you.  Be with them and guide them.  Work in their lives as you worked in ours.  Make haste, and save them before they destroy their life and the lives around them.  Amen.

Thanks for letting me share.